Analysis of Psychopathology
Introduction
The process of understanding how the human mind works entails to provide important details that also distinctively create a connection between behavior and thinking; this intends to connect the practical manner by which people intend to become more specific when it comes to mandating their acts in consideration to what they want or to what they perceive is necessary (Atkinson, 2011). In the field of abnormal psychology, it is imposed that there are instances when humans intend to become rather evasive in the lives of others just so to realize the importance of themselves and take note of the real role they play in the society (Berrios, 1996).
In a world where not everything is accepted, where freedom is limited, it could be considered that being accepted becomes a huge matter that everyone wants to feel. Hoping the consideration of others into what one thinks to be acceptable is an important concept of what is meant by the term ‘to belong’. Relatively, being accepted by the society also creates a distinct indication of being able to belong to something or to someone (Berrios, 1996). However, because of the many restrictions, there are instances when the decision of individuals as to who they are or how they are to handle themselves in public creates particular reactions from others. If these individuals take the rather not-so-popular road, they become judged, causing them to feel the frustration of finding a way to make people understand about their decisions or on the other hand succumb to the pressures of the society (Atkinson, 2011).
These frustrations often result to something more distinctively evasive and particularly destructive on themselves and on others. Human individuals who fail to see the importance of their being in the eyes of others and the acceptance that they receive from the people that matter most to them intend to create particular abnormalities in their behavior. The sad truth is, such condition of thinking brings them into a point of determining less of themselves and becoming more of what they want to be. This often results to self destruction and abuse of others. Releasing such frustrations have been the cause of many crimes that are usually driven by passion and destructive options of proving one’s self to be acceptable and ‘normal’. In the discussion that follows, the psychopathology behind the concept of homophobia shall be given attention to through the utilization of film and literature analysis. Focusing on the film “The Silence of the Lambs” (movie), the indication of what is meant by homophobia and how it affects human behavior shall be given specific consideration. To note though, spearheading the discussion is an indication of what psychopathology is, therefore giving a firm background on how human-analysis is established based on their actions and the way they behave within crowds compared to the ways by which they act when they are alone.
The concept of studying the different abnormalities of the brain and how these matters affect the overall being of an individual is the focal point of applying psychopathology in action. Notably, it could be understood that this approach to the science of mental health entails to provide a connective explanation on what thinking is and how it affects human response to particular situations that people have to contend with. Relatively, the operation of psychopathology is often considered to be related to critical cases that involve the need to understand an uncanny reaction from an individual that creates a different pattern of actions that a person engages with. Usually, such pattern of reaction leads to uncanny results, including criminal behavior and self destructiveness.
One of the most controversial concepts in psychology that affects human thinking is the emergence of being able to belong. The theory of belongingness basically imposes the need o f a person to know where or with whom he belongs to. What makes such theory effective in determining the path of development one takes goes back to the common notion of a person not ever being an island; this idea suggests that a person can never survive alone. Hence, it further imposes that being able to belong is part of survival, it hopes to take note of the fact that people need to be more cautious as to who accepts them fully as these individuals would be the once to complete their being (Atkinson, 2011). True to its sense though, this particular need among humans create distinct critical situations for them, especially if they choose to be different. Deciding on how they ought to be recognized and accepted by others is something that might not be easy to handle especially if they decided differently compared to what is considered common, normal or acceptable in the society.
Once such concept of belongingness becomes the cause of one’s frustrations, wrong decisions are bound to happen; at some point, one’s own frustrations become the cause of others’ desperations and at times, even destruction. Crimes committed by people who have lost track of how they are going to behave around others just to feel accepted often end up becoming more frustrated in being able to belong than simply being able to stand on their own or at least stand for what they believe is right. This is where psychopathology’s useful concept comes into action.
The Applications of Psychopathology
Most often than not, psychopathology is used in crime investigations. With the aim of profiling unknown criminals, forensic investigators intend to resort to psychopathology to take note of the pattern of behavior that the criminal takes into account based on how he acts and how he determines his crime as well as his victims. With the use of these patterns, these investigators are able to determine his next victim, preempt his next move, and practically create a proper procedure that could take him towards being caught in the act.
In determining the pattern of action that a criminal follows, the investigators who utilize the operation of psychopathology do not only delve into the who or what of the case, they basically determine the ‘why’ of the situation and use such information to indicate what the next move of the criminal will be. In psychopathology, it is imposed that people will do matters for a reason, and it is through such reason that crime investigators are able to understand the behavior of the criminals and eventually find where they are and what their next plan is about.
Another application of psychopathology is used in mental health development. People who are undergoing depression and are acting towards such emotion are notably aimed to be helped by mental health agencies. To be able to determine the right kind of approach they are to use in providing the mental healthcare that the people need, the mental experts utilize the approaches of psychopathology to be able to see what the patients need depending on the behavior they are presenting. From such knowledge comes the creation of distinct procedures that could help these individuals become more controlled and gain a more effective process of thinking that could balance their frustrations and straighten up their behavior as much as needed.
Psychopathology as Defined through Popular Culture
One of the most compelling films made to define the concept of psychopathology is “The Silence of the Lambs”. With roles played by award winning actors Joedi Foster and Anthony Hopkins, this film, released in 1991, features a new investigator’s quest in finding a social psychopath who has been skinning his female victims as he dumps their bodies out in the open. Known as Bufallo Bill, this serial killer has a distinct pattern of killing which the investigators believe to be based on a particular psychotic frustration.
In the movie, the first meeting of the investigator and Hannibal Lector showed how much confident the criminal is with himself. He handles himself quite strongly in front of the female investigator. As the Starling relates the story of the case of Buffalo Bill she was working on, Lector could be seen to be mocking her as if pointing out that during that situation, he controls the ball. Notably, this confidence on himself spurs on the ideal realization that his skills are being celebrated by some individuals who see life the way that he does. During the investigations, Starling could be seen to have a distinct interest on why Lector did the things he did given the fact that he started out as a normal person.
On the other hand, although Buffalo Bill was not shown in the movie, his crime becomes the central core of the story. Descriptively, the story plot identifies his acts to be rather evasive. With the suggestions of Lector’s explanation, it is obvious how Buffalo Bill’s frustrations grew into becoming actions that are more oppressive to his victims. Noting that the criminal was gay, it is presented in the story how and why he develops such a pattern of victimology.
Convincingly, the criminal is described and assumed to be skinning-off his victims to create a suit that would fit him, giving him the satisfaction of being a woman. What pushes such act to be accomplished by a supposedly normal person? With the description of his crimes, in connection with the description of Lector’s own criminal adventures, it could be analyzed that the Buffalo Bill has been pressured both by his own desires and that of the society’s expectations. Being a gay [and such identity being fully avoided and considered taboo in the past], Buffalo Bill was expected to become fully determined to have people see the supposedly ‘real him’. His belief that he is a woman pushes him to do drastic moves that include killing and skinning-off his victims. According to analysis, this act imposes a distinct indication on how a person becomes frustrated and how he uses such frustration to justify his acts towards his fellowmen; for him, it was not a crime, instead it was a form of justice that he is putting upon himself. Believing that he is doing the society a favor of removing judging individual existing in the society, he considers himself a hero, and the skins he takes off from them a form of trophy that he later on could use to attain the desire of being a real woman.
Herein, it could be analyzed how the movie insisted on the more negative side of pressure and frustration and how much it could do to damage the way of thinking that a person undergoes just so to realize the reality of his dreams and aspirations of being accepted. It could be considered herein that in the application of psychopathology in the process of determining why a person acts the way that he does, it could be realized why people become the way that they are and how the mental capacity to manage one’s own behavior to follow the common path of being considered acceptable in the society crumbles down under pressure. Showing how the application of the said process of mental study applies in solving crimes, this movie entails to indicate that the science behind psychology proves to be effective in both solving crimes and hopefully preventing them from happening in the future.
Implications of Analysis
Noticeably, Buffalo Bill has been consistently mocked and pressured to be the man he is expected to be. His response to this pressure was destructive. The psychopathological indication on how he has responded to the challenge specifically shows how he lost track of the ideal process of applying moral considerations in relation to pursuing his desires. Bufallo Bill’s case presents a classical indication of what becomes of a frustrated individual who wishes to be accepted amidst his personal decisions of taking a rather different road compared to the normal point of development as recognized by the society.
It could be seen through the descriptions and indicative definition of the being of Bufallo Bill through the conversations between Starling and Lector, that he has developed a particularly animalistic behavior towards his victims due to the frustrations that he has developed through time. The desire to be accepted has created a distinct impact on his behavior. Although Sterling was not immediately able to identify Buffalo Bill to be the primary suspect, the process of profiling through psychopathology gave critical information that pointed out to the fact that it was a man who was doing the crime and that he had the desire of becoming a woman through putting the skins of his victims together to create a woman-suit.
The desire of humans to be accepted could actually bring them into particularly difficult points of behavioral changes. Most often than not, these changes result to distinct change in the process by which one deals with his relationship with others. Practically, people become less concerned about others and more concerned about their desires and the manner by which they are able to give way to their goals. The title of the movie “Silence of the Lambs” specifically provides a distinct indication on how destructive human behavior remains concealed until they are challenged by the emergence of specific situations in the life of a person. The irregularities that people experience within themselves bring them to question their capacity to be accepted by others. In the desire to belong with those who they think should accept them, these individuals are willing to go to the extremes just to be able to feel the satisfaction of being envisioned as somewhat ‘normal’ apart from what they think they are. In this movie, it has been shown how the desire of an individual could cause him to make decisions that might cause him to become less concerned about the welfare of others apart from the manner by which they get the chance to realize the fulfillment of their personal goals.
In this case, it could be understood that the internal goals of an individual could shape his overall being, at some point, if these goals are not in line with the usually considered ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’, these individuals break their sanity and at some point decide to behave differently and destructively against others who might not agree with their goals accordingly.
Conclusion
Frustrations cause humans to lose themselves into their desires and give into the temptation of managing situations in their hand, even though such decisions may seem specifically daunting, damaging and oppressive towards others. The application of psychopathology in determining such patterns of behavior play a great role in specifically identifying how crimes could be prevented and resolved thus saving the lives of the frustrated ones and that of their supposed victims. Giving attention to the mental health of each individual through analyzing matters with the use of psychopathology indicates a distinct process of determining how human frustrations could be dealt with through applying more positive responses than making drastic moves that does not only destroys the individual but also destroys the people around him (Freud, ed. 2001). With the work examined in this writing, it could be seen how positive and negative interventions on people posing particular points of frustration could largely affect the way they think and act towards situations that have marked their being.
This indicates that psychopathology allows experts to find out key concepts of understanding that would lead them towards creating a more responsive approach as to how they are to deal with particular twists and turns in a person’s behavior. There are instances when such conditions of thinking cannot be fully controlled or ceased, nevertheless, with practical analysis of the situation, people suffering from extreme frustrations which often results of depression and evasive behavior could be helped to control themselves and make distinct and reasonable options of changing their ways (Berrios, 1996). Helping them see the reality and how much they could do to manage their frustrations for the sake of the lives and happiness of those who love them, these individuals might still be snatched off from their destructive behavior.
Human mental abnormalities often result from social and psychological issues. Biological causes could also be considered effective in determining why a person becomes the individual that he has become; nevertheless, seldom does it occur that it is only the biological cause the drives one into becoming something or someone to do unacceptable actions towards their fellowmen and even towards themselves (Atkinson, 2004). The role that psychopathology takes in consideration to this matter plays a great key towards determining how humans think and understanding why they intend to react the way that they do especially when faced with particular stressors (Berrios, 1996). True, the proper application of psychopathology makes it easier for humans to become more reasonable about their path of personal and social development amidst the occurrence of particular frustrations in their lives.
With the many things that are able to influence the thinking and the behavior of people today, it is not new that individuals intend to respond to particular personal situations that relate to their desire of being notably recognized, accepted and at some point being able to belong to a group they want to be known with through particular actions that they engage in. When such goals become frustrations as their expectations have not been met accordingly, the reactions usually become evasive of the rights of others, and at some point even destructive to the safety and the life of other individuals surrounding them. Through the use of psychopathology, these occurrences could be prevented from happening, hence protecting the troubled ones alongside the supposed victims that they might assault if they and their behavior is not controlled accordingly.
References:
Atkinson, L et al. (2004). Attachment Issues in Psychopathology and Intervention. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Berrios, G.E.(1996) The History of Mental Symptoms: Descriptive Psychopathology since the 19th century. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
Freud, S (2001). Edited: he Psychopathology of Everyday Life. MacMillan.
Ebert, Roger (February 14, 1991). "The Silence of the Lambs Movie Review (1991)". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group.
